5 BOROUGH SPORTS

“He saved my life…he got MSG back on the television!”

Once again, thanks to Dave Mueller for letting me know about this guy.

So I just returned from seeing the film, “Moneyball” and I have to admit, this movie exceeded all of my expectations. Since practically every baseball movie in the last decade has sucked, I was a little skeptical to find out how Hollywood interpreted my all-time favorite book. I was picturing this film as a cheesy “come from behind story” with corny one-liners, unrealistic game action, and a storyline that suits the non-baseball fan. This film was the complete opposite. It portrayed baseball the way it’s supposed to be – hard-nosed and cut throat. This was a very simplistic film, and I mean that as a compliment. There were no crazy effects, flashy camera angles, bright lights, or any of that bullshit. It was just a story about a general manager who had a completely different perspective of the game. Since Beane put together a team that had the best record in the Majors with the lowest salary in baseball, he revolutionized baseball. Since the Oakland Athletics’ 2002 season, every ball club has adapted a least a part of Beane’s philosophy.

The acting was incredible. I couldn’t ever picture Brad Pitt starring in a baseball film, but he was perfect for this role. He nailed Billy Beane’s character. I’ve never been a fan of Jonah Hill as an actor, but he sold me as the role of Paul DePodesta (Beane’s right-hand man). Even though DePodesta in real life is nothing like Hill, this character worked perfectly with Pitt. Phillip Seymour Hoffman did a great job as Oakland manager Art Howe, the antagonist in the film. Even though it’s true that Art Howe wasn’t always on great terms with Beane, Howe came out publicly and complained that he was wasn’t as “villain-like” that season. Nonetheless, Hoffman and Beane’s confrontations throughout the film were fantastic.

If you’re a baseball fan, you have to see this movie. It’s unlike any sports film I’ve ever seen. Since it goes so deep in the world of baseball’s front offices, every die-hard fan will love it. I’m talking goosebumps for two straight hours. Believe me, it’s worth seeing.

Packers fans commemorate 9/11 this past Thursday Night at Lambeau Field

I’m a few days late on this, but it needed to be said here on 5BS…

It still seems like a recent morning that the skies of New York were the most brilliant blue I had ever seen. There was a crispness to the air as New Yorkers scuffled through the streets and tunnels of the city, just like any other Tuesday morning. Most people were already into their daily routine before anything out of the ordinary arose. As quickly as everyone scurried to work, it even more quickly turned into chaos.

Everyone remembers what they were doing, where they were that day, and it is a memory that will never escape us. For every American it stings deep, especially for New Yorkers who witnessed first hand how our city could be turned into a war zone so abruptly. Now ten years later we pause to remember those we lost, those who fought to save so many that day, and those who have fought and died trying prevent another day like this from happening again.

As the time has passed we look back and reminisce about the months following the tragedy. It was a solemn time where a typically high strung city was subdued. People didn’t yell, cars didn’t honk, and normally chaotic areas like Times Square were quiet. I’ll always remember being downtown only blocks from the building days afterwards, where people were fighting for a view of the destruction from the closest spot a few blocks away from ground zero. Seeing the rubble piled ten stories high still burning was enough, but it was how there were thousands of people on the street and no one said a word. The only noise you could hear on a busy New York street was that of grieving relatives who lined up hoping their lost ones could still be found.

What’s amazing about the reaction of New York and the United States as a whole, is the unity it created. People stopped caring what kind of person you were, all that mattered was that you were American. The unity translated to all facets of life, including sports. Maybe I was naive at the time, but there was a particular moment where I realized this.

When Major League Baseball resumed shortly after, there was obviously  a lot of attention on the New York teams and their first games. That night was an amazing night in Shea Stadium as many people remember. The Yankees were on the road though. In Chicago, the Yanks were greeted with warmth and hospitality, but it was a sign I saw from Boston that resonates with me. Fans in Fenway Park held up signs that read Boston loves NY. It seems so simple, but at that moment it really struck home for me. I was younger then and sports were a larger than life thing to me. It was that moment where it sunk in that it wasn’t. Sports inspires so many of us to compete or to unite with friends and family over a team or school, but it was times like these that make us realize what’s important in life, and also how sports can be such a great thing for people.

In the months following September 11th, the country united, and healing was brought to so many people through their teams. Just the ability to go back to doing something “normal” felt right for so many. Now ten years later, and the unity is gone and our country is divided as it has ever been. People moan about the poor economic times and while terrorism has not struck again on our soil, the fear still persists.

Politics has become even more of a blame game now, and sports (especially College Athletics) is as corrupt as it has ever been. So today I ask everyone to step back and remember those months following the attacks, and try to understand why we acted that way, and why we don’t anymore. We here at 5BS will always remember, and ask you to as well. Sports is great and it’s going to inspire us, but let’s take sportsmanship and bring it throughout our lives and country again, and work towards the common good.